+ Sponsors

Thursday, 22 September 2011

Micro 4/3 is the Big Kahuna

The Micro 4/3 sensor: small, yet big. Big, yet small.

-

"Kahuna is a Hawaiian word, defined in the Pukui & Elbert (1986) as a 'Priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister, expert in any profession.' [...] The term [was] commonplace in Beach Party films of the 1960s such as 'Beach Blanket Bingo,' where the 'Big Kahuna' was the best surfer on the beach." (Wikipedia)

The Nikon 1 certainly caused a stir yesterday. Most of it, unfortunately, negative. Thom Hogan of ByThom.com referred to the reaction variously as "anger, anger, anger," and an "uproar."

Me, I spent a fascinating couple of hours yesterday reading up on the IBM PCjr, the Edsel, and Kodak's Photo CD.

Did you know, for instance, that IBM spent $40 million just on pre-launch advertising for the PCjr, and never made it up over the life of the product? And did you know that Edsel was not just a car, but was supposed to be an entire Ford division, like Buick was at GM? It's just too bad that it was also the ultimate ignominy for Edsel Ford, who despite being a really good guy seemed to get the shaft at every turn—he even died before his time (of stomach cancer, at 49). As for Photo CD, I could tell you stories. For many years, Kodak was just so big that it assumed it could create the very markets it expected to supply. It tried that trick over and over—early on with success; later, not so much. For those whose memory may be hazy, I'll just note that, once upon a time, Kodak's concept of the future was that everyone was going to be looking at their pictures on their TV sets, using purpose-specific components that looked like stereo music CD players (because they basically were). Kodak expected to sell 250,000 of these a year. When the dust finally settled on the interminable closeouts six or eight years later, sales were something like a tenth of that. Not for one year; for the entire life of the product.

People, Americans especially, seem to give enormous weight and respect to bigness. IBM was the big dog in computers in the early '80s, with 70% of the mainframe market locked up. It was assumed that IBM could do no wrong and would win every battle. By the way, did I tell you that my shuttle driver to the airport when I went to Maine used to be an IT guy? For mainframes. He never worried about PCs because he figured the PC would never catch on and the mainframe would never go away. He said he had to go back to school to learn how to drive a truck.

But I digress.

Anyway, another thing I learned yesterday was that IBM actually timed its pre-launch announcements and advertising specifically to interfere with competitors' sales. It worked. People held off buying the PCjr's competitors because they expected big-dog IBM to automatically prevail.

It's not how big a stick you have, it's how hard you swing itSimilarly, lots of photographers have taken a wait-and-see attitude towards mirrorless because the biggies (Canikon, who together control, oh, something like 117% of the camera market) hadn't signed on yet. Surely when Canon and Nikon came into mirrorless they would blow the little guys away with their...their...bigness.

Just like in the '70s in the U.S. auto market when imports were growing like crazy. All sorts of people were just waiting for things to get serious. For Detroit to enter the fray. What they turned out to be waiting for were the Pinto and the Vega.

Turned out Detroit didn't take small cars seriously.

The outrage and anger anger anger in our little corner of the photographic firmament is not so much over Nikon's mirrorless offering as that—in our terms, this would be—we found out yesterday that Nikon isn't taking mirrorless seriously. I cannot speak for the pink-camera-wielding Asian female "what does 'megapixel' mean anyway?" crowd. All I can talk about are all the photo-dawgs who expected the arriving half of the Canikon juggernaut to blitz the weak, wimpling little Oly-Panaleica snivelers with its glorious big Nikon Kahunishness. We expected a photographer's tool that would take on Micro 4/3 and NEX on their own terms, head-to-head, and smash into them rugby-style. Instead, Nikon created a targeted consumer product aimed at people not serious enough about photography to own a D5100. That has spray-and-pray built in. That is interesting mainly because it has some of what we hope will be trickle-up deep technology.

(Canon, for its part, must be a little like a guy who has been following another guy across a minefield—right after the first guy got blown up. Hmm, what's the next step now?)

The apparent market leader really is leading the marketMy suspicion is that what yesterday really proves is that Micro 4/3 really is the real deal, the sweet spot, the best option—the real Kahuna.

APS-C sensors work fine in fixed-lens mirrorless cameras, such as the Leica X1* and the Fujifilm X100. And while NEX is making its own splash and winning its own adherents, many have pointed out that the over-large sensor is distorting the size of the lenses, preventing them from being miniaturized in proportion to the cameras. On the other hand, Micro 4/3 really does seem to have it right: the sensor is big enough, but not too big; small enough, but not too small. The cameras are right-sized, the lenses are right-sized. Everything's in balance. Everything fits.

Not only that, but there are choices everywhere. Choices, which buyers like to have. Choices not just of bodies (how many are there now?) but of body styles. And having two-slash-three companies (Olympus, Panasonic, and Leica-branded Panasonic) making the same system is reaping obvious rewards in one very important area: lenses. The latest sweet little morsel is due to ship this very month: the tasty Leica DG Summilux 25mm ƒ/1.4 ASPH.

I'll just wait here while you go look up that 18.5mm ƒ/1.4 for the Nikon 1. Dump-de-dum.

Take a look at this page—looking like a system, isn't it gang? A pretty generous one. You can get a fisheye. And a superfast premium ultrawide. And a choice of eight standard zooms (although I don't quite grok why they're all different, but then I'm zoom-impaired). And a 3D lens. And not one but a choice of three pancakes.

Let's take bets on on how long you'll have to wait for this many lenses for the NEX or the Nikon 1. (And don't give me that adaptor crap—not that Micro 4/3 doesn't have plenty of those. I mean fully functioning auto-coupled lenses designed for the system.) Even if Micro 4/3 stands still, which it won't, you're still talking years for Sony and Nikon to fill all their lineup holes.

Canon kingdom comeAcolytes of bigness will not be swayed, I'm sure. They'll just say, serenely, sure, but wait till Canon comes. Just you wait.

Wait.

Thing is, I'm not sure we have to do any more waiting. Yesterday seemed like a milestone to me. It was a couple of Nikons that arrived, I know that. But somehow it seemed like what really arrived was Micro 4/3.

Mike

*Which doesn't seem to be getting much mindshare these days, or is that just in my little backwater Parish?

Note: Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. More...Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Joseph: "Does my having purchased the DMC-GF1 just two months after its arrival offset the 1972 Pinto I bought new at age 19?

Featured Comment by Robert Roaldi: "And I'm still shooting non-Micro 4/3 Olympus DSLRs. Man, do I feel old or what.

Featured Comment by Ivan: "Americans like bigness, yet we hate carrying big cameras. I suspect it's because there's little prestige in it, unlike showing up in a new black 'Slade. As for Canon mirrorless, the mystery is over—it will be, point for point, like Nikon's. In the same colors, too, I predict. Long live Micro 4/3."

Featured Comment by Malcolm S: "I'm not sure that you quite 'get it.' Whether the Nikon 1 succeeds or not, it heralds the beginning of a new paradigm in still photography. No longer will photographers able to afford only a cheaper camera have to compose a single scenario for the 'perfect' picture. They will extract that picture from within a rapidly taken sequence. For that you need fast autofocus and processing speed, with the Nikon 1 claimed to have those in spades (faster even than the D3s). The size of the sensor and number of pixels are largely irrelevant with reasonable lighting and print sizes to 11x17. The age of the slow plodding dinosaur may be coming to a close, with faster and more agile species overtaking it in the evolutionary race."

Featured Comment by Mark Crabtree: "I thought that Micro 4/3 was the big winner yesterday. That sensor seems bigger than it did two days ago, doesn't it?

"The Nikon is cute and does some interesting and amazing (and sometimes annoying) things. I can see it thriving as a fun and fashionable amateur camera, but it is hard to imagine that the current price structure isn't going to be a problem in that market.

"I keep obsessively reading camera reviews and always end up back at the Panasonic G3 (or GH2). Nevertheless, I'm happy enough with the Sony Alpha 100 that I've ended up with sort of by accident (a throw-in on a camera trade). For now I can make the pictures I want to with the gear I have, and just sit back and watch the parade of amazing new cameras."

Featured Comment by Johan: "The guy in the minefield following the other guy would at least know to follow him to the exact spot where he exploded. Whereto from there, however, is the big question.

"There are still a few things that need to click for me with regards to Micro 4/3, but it is pretty much getting there. I just need to find a body that is affordable and fast enough and it would, along with that Panasonic 20/1.7 pancake, probably never leave my hands.

"But I don't need one now, so I can wait and see if Canon will make a move. Mostly because I might want to be able to use the EF glass and flash I already own on a mirrorless as well."

Featured Comment by Don Craig: "The bottom of the market is a dangerous place to be, as mobile phones are just about to pass eight megapixels. Phones include lots of funky apps for canned post-processing of snaps of me and my friends, and everyone carries one all the time. Pretty soon, the only market for camera cameras will be for those serious photographers Nikon has just ignored."

Featured Comment by Craig: "While Kodak's Photo CD may have been a market failure, it was a great solution for many of us involved in color print publication back in the day."

Featured Comment by Will Frostmill: "Can I get an A-men?"

Featured Comment by John Krumm: "I think there's truth to what you say, Mike, and if you add in the third party lenses coming even more so (Sigma is rumored to be working on Micro 4/3 lenses). But give the new systems a few years to catch up on their own terms. Nikon displayed a slew of mock-up lenses it plans to release. And the phase/cdaf combo AF sounds like a breakthrough, and might be easily used on a DX version of this camera. What if the D400 or later D500 looks somewhat like an upsized version of the V1? That might be interesting."

Featured Comment by Nick: "A look at the specs on the NEX 7 makes me want to abandon my bag of Micro 4/3 gear and buy one; a look at the NEX lens options makes me want to cuddle my bag of Micro 4/3 gear to my chest like it was an an adorable little puppy.

"At this point, I'm not sure what Canon could introduce that would woo people away from what's already out there. The APS mirrorless field is badly overcrowded (and Canon might not want to risk its Rebel sales); Micro 4/3 would be hard to dislodge from its perch on the half-sized sensor market; and Nikon has beaten them to the market in the last remaining sensible size category for system cameras. Maybe if Canon had a six-lens system (bright primes and dim zooms in each of wide, normal, and tele) ready to ship on release day?"

Featured Comment by Pavel Urusov: "I think you should pay some attention to Samsung. Their lens line-up is very promising, their roadmap even more so. And they have pancakes, too! Tweny millimeter and 30mm NX pancakes are very good, and the upcoming 16mm pancake also looks attractive. In my opinion, Samsung NX system shows that APS-C lenses can be made sufficiently small."

Featured Comment by Steve Jacob: "Actually, everyone has it backwards—the real problem with MFT is that it is basically a high end netbook for people that actually want a laptop, but are happy to lose performance because its a bit lighter and smaller. The N1 is more like an iPad - a computer for people that dont pretend they want to WORK on the darn thing, they just want to surf and play and read newspapers. An iPad does not replace a laptop - its for people that never actually wanted or needed a laptop in the first place, they just wanted to do some of the fun things a laptop did without all the hassle of learning to use one. Nikon 1 is the camera Apple would make, (though theirs would look nicer). Nice pictures without that pesky manual."

Mike replies:I was following your argument up until that last sentence. That still kinda remains to be seen, no?

Featured Comment by Geoff Wittig: "Mike is definitely on to something with the Nikon-as-Kodak analogy. Big and successful companies notoriously tend to ossify and become fatally conservative in their thinking. The path to managerial advancement becomes ever more conformist when the profits keep rolling in. Here in the Rochester N.Y. area it's been agonizing to witness the slow motion suicide of the company once known as "the Great Yellow Father." Their latest act of desperation: selling off their priceless collection of patents for pennies on the dollar, just to stave off bankruptcy for another year or two. The vultures are circling.

"Kodak's Photo CD was certainly a disappointment to the company. However, I believe the fatal wound was inflicted by their huge investment in the launch of a brand new film format (APS) at the worst possible moment in history. Kodak sank literally billions into the new system, bleeding them dry of development funds just as the digital tsunami began to rise."

Featured Comment by Sergio Muscat: "I am a Nikon guy and was very curious about the new mirrorless system (I also have an EPL2 which I love, meaning there was no waiting for me, because I knew that anyway it would take at least a year or two for a new format to settle, and I knew Nikon would want to do it 'their way'). Anyway, my point is that at face value, the new format is disappointing. However, what is interesting is the fantastic technology which is under the hood. What Nikon have done is used the 1 series to create a new, solid basis for their new DSLR lineup, which I am pretty sure remains their primary focus. Now I am really curious to see the new DSLR upgrades."

Comments

"Nikon 1 is the camera Apple would make..."

If Apple made the Nikon 1 system it would have WiFi and 3G connectivity, a multi-touch capable screen, and it would sync your photos with Aperture, Facebook, Flickr, Apple TV and everything else you can think of. And most importantly, people would be lined up outside of Apple stores eager to spend $900 on one.

As to the markets (pink camera wielding Asian women, well, that IS a huge market!) I see a massive cross section living and shooting in NYC. Carry an SLR around Central Park for a couple of hours and you will be asked to shoot on dozens of little pink cameras!

The best hope for a camera such this one is a niche market. The purse/pocket point and shoot is (at best) dying, replaced by cellphones. Providing a higher end small frame P&S camera with interchangeable lens is going fill the tourist camera markets and that is about it. Yes, advanced photographers might buy them to supplement their DSLR's when they don't want to ruck their gear around, but I can't envision this or any other m4/3 replacing them as anything other than a gimmick.

The big Kahunas are throwing things at a wall hoping something sticks to ease their losses in the point and shoot markets, but I don't see them succeeding in the general markets. Cellphones are going to kill off the entry level P&S and for all their technological sophistication, these small sensor cameras simply aren't going to cut it against even an entry level DSLR.

Just how many lenses you need for this type of camera, minus the duplication?
A slow kit lens? Both Sony and M43 have them.
A fast standard zoom? Sony G is coming. Panasonic X is coming too. Primes: Sony: 16/24/30/50 and M43: 12/14/20/25/45
A macro lens? Sony: 30 and M43: 45
A telephoto zoom? Sony: 55-210, M43: has many
A do it all lens? Sony: 18-200, M43: ?
Wide zoom: Sony: coming next year, M43: 9-18/7-14
A fast tele prime: Sony is coming next year. M43: ?

Take into account the DOF differences of the system: Eg: F2.8 on a Sony is F4 on a M43. And relative size: Eg: my GF1 with 20 is not really smaller than a NEX5 with a kit lens.

I think, in a years time, both systems will be equal in terms of choices offered.

I am not surprised by the negative reactions to the new Nikon. Most "serious" photographers wanted yet another m4/3 (or APS-C) camera, more or less like the existing ones on offer, but with a Nikon badge. And please make that 36 megapixels. In my opinion that is exactly what we don't need. The existing Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Ricoh choices are more than good enough.

What Nikon have done is trade off some image quality (probably) for high speed and integration of photo with video. That makes it a very attractive camera for soccer mums and dads; but also, I would suggest, for professionals who need speed and video more than the ability to print an image 48" wide. With the move towards displaying photos on the web rather than in print and the pressure to produce web videos the Nikon might be a nice DSLR replacement. Personally, I shoot a lot of rodeos outside, sell almost exclusively web-sized images and have had a lot of requests for video...

Ronin, I replaced my LX3 with an EPL-2. It's a hair thicker (with the Panny 20/1.7), but handles the low-light situations that just frustrated me with the LX3. It's my alternative to the D700, when I don't want to carry the big gun.

Interesting read, but they only issue I see with your m4/3's Goldilocks argument is that you completely ignored the fact that Samsung has been able to match the size of a number of m4/3's lenses despite the fact they use a larger sensor.

I'm a current m4/3's user myself, and I do think it is a wonderful system, but I've already pre-ordered the NEX-7. Why? Even though Sony's lenses are larger than their m4/3's counterparts, they aren't *that* much larger. The new Panasonic pancake zoom kind of changes things, but it will only be a matter of time before Sony and Samsung copy the idea. Sony has already said they are fully aware more pancake lenses are needed. So I truly believe it's only a matter of time before the NEX system matches m4/3's tick for tat while doing so with larger and better sensor.

At the time of this writing m4/3's is the best system for sure, but will it be in 2013? I guess we'll see.

I was about to write what Andrew wrote and then saw Michael's comment underneath. Putting the two together makes me think that a Canon m43 system would be a killer. If Canon introduced the system with a very fast body and a low cost one, they could get big market share. Fancy lenses can follow as there is already a reasonable choice. The idea of the iM43, more social networking device than camera also appeals.

While this Nikon offering is not serious competition to the existing mirror-less systems out there except to Nikon fanboys, I disagree that this is a benefit to m43rds. I sold my m43rds cameras and lenses when I bought the Sony Nex-5 and have the Nex-7 on order, and have a variety of E mount and legacy Minolta lenses. I never got enthused about the m43rds except from a size standpoint. I don't want to have to PP everything and the Panny jpgs just aren't very good IMHO, and while Olympus has a magnificent jpg engine, I just did not care for their cameras and IU. I really did not like the lack of a tilt LCD. To me everything about the NEX is so far superior - yes, even the clunky interface on the Nex-5 - to anything in the m4rds world.

So much of this boils down to personal preference. Yes, the NEX lenses tend to be so much bigger than the bodies, but so what? The system itself is smaller than a DLSR system and lends itself to unobtrusive shooting.

Based on size and general specs, it would appear that Nikon's new system is to Micro 4/3rds as the original (non-micro) 4/3rds DSLRs were to APS-C DSLRs -- the considerably smaller sensor not resulting in a considerably smaller camera or lenses. So you accept a disadvantage (higher pixel density and/or lower pixel count) without getting much of an advantage elsewhere to make up for it. (Since I believe Nikon is mostly dependent on Sony and other electronics companies for sensors, it's unlikely they'll be able to win this battle by maintaining better sensor technology than the competition.)

The question is, do some of the "gimmicks" that Nikon has built in give it something that really differentiates it from Micro 4/3rds or will it need to sell purely on the strength of the Nikon name? If the latter, I suspect it may sell well initially but then drop off considerably -- I believe some of the "failed" products Mike mentioned sold well initially but then dropped off substantially once the initial "gotta have brand XYZ" crowd had been satiated.

Your comments about 4/3 are very apt. Nikon has just made 4/3 an easier choice. But not that easy a choice. Olympus still doesn't have a built-in viewfinder, and are still using only 12-bit raw files, with a somewhat antiquated sensor, and the camera/viewfinder is overpriced. I'm sure that my Nikon D60 has better ergonomics and produces better images than an E-P3. Panasonic, with no built-in image stabilization, is not a desirable choice (for me anyway). Olympus has just had the car ahead move out of the passing lane. Maybe they should get into fifth gear and hit the gas.

Nahhhh, My issue is that Nikon (and almost all the rest of the market) seem to think that it's the camera body that matters.

Not so.

The glass is what matters first and most. Without the right lens, you can't do anything, so who cares what magic the camera body is supposed to have? None of them seem to care that some of us want a wide lens - like 20mm... Give me that and I'll buy the damn body.

If I get to refine further my list of what would be the perfect "casual camera", we can talk about sensor size next. Not resolution. Size. Physical size. Make it big enough that a normal is long enough that wide open can start blurring out the background.

A big relatively low rez sensor has two side benefits if I understand the physics and production of big chips correctly. First that it should be less prone to some of the ills that very high rez sensors are - noise and digital artifacts.

Second that less tightly packed chips are easier to manufacture and would have less rejects than the high pixel count sensors of the same dimensions, and thus lower production losses and lower costs to make.

The layman will be attracted to the Nikon badge and probably wont care a damn about the sensor size - most people believe miniaturisation equals progress. Many amateur photographers that I have spoken don't realise that very smaller sensors are inherently noisier and think more megapixels means better quality.

My partner wants a good quality camera that will fit into her pocket - she ahs already said that 4/3rds is too cumbersome for her. She isn't too keen on the Nikon pink version!

Initial Nikon V1 high ISO results look very good for such a small sensor.

Canon might have something if they release a (slightly larger) G12 style body with EVF in a micro four thirds mount with an included phase detector m43 to EF adapter ala Sony's... They could add a couple of pins to the mount so only their body would have full control of EF lenses.

I tend to agree with your post. I kind of get who the '1' is for, but I don't get why those people wouldn't just rather have an integral fast zoom...

"Mike replies: I was following your argument up until that last sentence. That still kinda remains to be seen, no?"

Of course, but think of manual in the generic sense of "how do I use a camera" and here is one that supposedly figures it all out for you. If so, many will love it.

I declare my love and appreciation for proper laptops, or indeed very powerful work stations. I am more fascinated to see the D700 replacement, but my pocket camera is unlikely to be MFT or a compact. There is a gap and Nikon have filled it.

Having said that, I am not impressed with the IQ of pictures so far from the J1.

Although I consider it unlikey that I will ever buy a Nikon 1, my New England upbringing compels me to look at "B" when everyone seems to be clamoring for "A." Of interest to me is a comparison with 2 other upscale point and shoots, the Oly ZX1 and the newly announced Fuji X10. The Fuji and the Nikon J1 are priced very close to each other and the Oly isn't far behind. Yet looking at sensor sizes, the Nikon's is at least twice as large as the other two. Regardless of what they tell you boys...size matters.

But amongst the so called enthusiasts, m4/3 is not the big Kahuna, the NEX-7 is (or more correctly: will be).

I noticed that around. And the usual reason, either voiced or implied, is "NEX has a bigger sensor". Which has been around since Olympus introduced 4/3 and hasn't grown more valid in the meantime. Just the opposite.

(It's also interesting that such people usually mention Panasonic when talking about m4/3.)

Yes, as an Olympus shooter all the way down, I'm biased. Or maybe better to say, I'm not swayed by the argument.

I think the real winner in all of this is clearly Sony. Never mind the small NEX line up for now... the real juice is being able to mount practically any lens on this beast with a powerful APS-C sensor and standard 1.5 crop. With focus peaking it's the best camera available for manual focusing. Users of the NEX system don't even need to buy NEX lenses to get really good value out the cameras. The same can't be said with the N1 (2.7 crop) and Micro 4/3 (2.0) - using your favorite say... 35/2 lens goes from something normal to something way too long for what it was intended for.

If you look at the NEX-7 at this point that camera looks to be unchallenged in build, features, and usefulness. And for those worried about pancake lenses built for the NEX system. Sony's very first lens was a 16/2.8 pancake lens, which means they already have the technology to do such things. It would be silly to think that they won't release tiny little lenses for the NEX in the coming year.

Mike: If you are still hoping for any CanNikon sponsorship or even ads to appear here, I think you may have written the wrong post. ;)

FWIW, a few months ago, I decided that m43 was going to be my cup of digital photo tea. My "large sensor" work remains on OM and various RF rigs and Fujinon/Toyo 4x5. But for digital convenience and digital street, it's gonna be m43, likely Pen.

It'll be interesting to see some proper tech reports once the Nikons are released. They seem to be placing great emphasis on ultra-fast spray and pray, what I'd like to know is how many seconds/shots the camera buffers can actually sustain those rates for. More to the point, how long the camera will effectively be "dead in your hand" after a full res' burst whilst those shots are written to a real memory card. The fastest AF and burst rates in the universe aren't going to help you 'catch the perfect moment' if your camera's still busy processing and writing that string of so-so shots it took 30 seconds ago.

Maybe I'm underestimating Nikon's electronic expertise - we'll see.

One more thing regarding the wider article. You're right to look forward to getting your hands on the Leica Summilux 25mm. Mine arrived (after a considerable wait) last Friday and has been firmly attached to my G1 body ever since. It's a gorgeous piece of glass and, as far as I'm concerned, a compelling reason on its own for me to stick with MFT.

"One more thing regarding the wider article. You're right to look forward to getting your hands on the Leica Summilux 25mm. Mine arrived (after a considerable wait) last Friday and has been firmly attached to my G1 body ever since. It's a gorgeous piece of glass and, as far as I'm concerned, a compelling reason on its own for me to stick with MFT."

Good post! I think we're missing the point on the Nikon System 1. It is not for us. This is not a camera for enthusiasts. Rather, it is a lifestyle product, for those who see technology as fashion and will purchase this camera based on the cachet of the brand name and the looks of the product. Nikon wants to be the Apple computers of the camera world. Take a good look at the design of the System 1. It's meant to look good sitting next to an ipod in a hipster's urban apartment.

Woo Hoo. All this talk finally got me committed (plus fact old camera died). Just purchased a GF1 (ex display) + "14"mm pancake (brand new) for combined price of £300. I think this has to be a bargain? Even accessory cases are half the price of Canon G series cases (the camera that died). So basically a starter m43 body for 100 quid. What's to lose?

I'm sure the system will sell well, just because it's a Nikon. Too bad. For so long the Canikon shooters have been dumping on the 4/3 and then m4/3 standard for being too small to be worth taking seriously. And then Nikon springs a sensor that is half the size of the m4/3, and suddenly "size isn't all that matters" and "good enough is sometimes okay". Odd, really.

But the real game changer at the low end, to my mind anyway, won't be these silly removable lens small sensor cameras. It will be when cameraphones get to 8 megapixels, and then feature apps that can turn your single built-in lens into a selection of any prime lens you want by simply mimicking in software the effects of, say, a 50mm f1.4 or 90mm f4.0 etc. That would be the prime lensed camera that you would always have with you.

Canon's arch-rival has spoken. It's Canon's move now. Odd it seems that the rule of "who first strikes, strikes twice" is no longer applicable here. But that's is so in the world of digital. From this I can only think that Canon has 3 ways for mirrorless:
1. A G13-like body with EVF, slightly bigger sensor, superb AF and stunning processing power.
2. To embrace m43.
3. Yet another sensor size bigger than 4/3 but smaller than aps-c
What's gonna be?

Interesting comments, Mike, thank you. A couple of observations. You suggest that the NEX's APS-C sensor creates size issues for lens manufacturers. Well maybe for Sony, which is first and foremost an electronics company, but Leica, Zeiss and Cosina Voigtlander make very small lenses for M-fit cameras and now have free access to the E-mount technology from Sony. Leica may be contractually tied to Panasonic (not sure about this) but CV and Zeiss are not so we should see some interesting developments. Secondly, the smaller the sensor is the more problematic, if not impossible, does differential focusing become. For a 2x conversion factor, while an f/2.0 may have the light transmission characteristics of a full frame F2 lens, it's DOF performance will resemble that of an F4 lens. In this regard, the NEX, with a 1.5 x lens conversion factor, will offer greater creative flexibility.

Well, since I started to use my Oly E-510 and later E-620 and especially after switching to m4/3 with my Panasonic GH1 and now GH2, my Nikon, Canon, Sigma bodies mainly collect dust. Never before have I had the ability to use so many different lenses (self adapted or even self-made exotic ones) on just one body. Resulting quality is very high, see http://www.uvir.eu or http://www.flickr.com/photos/kds315/sets/